The Hidden Dangers of Kratom: What Experts Want You to Know About This Growing Health Risk

The Growing Public Health Challenge of Kratom

Widely available at convenience stores, smoke shops, and gas stations throughout the United States, kratom has transformed from a niche herbal supplement into a common, albeit controversial, substance. Despite its prevalence, this opioid-like product operates in a largely unregulated market, prompting significant alarm among health professionals regarding its safety profile and potential for misuse.

The scale of the issue is reflected in a sharp rise in reported health complications. Poison control centers across the country documented 3,434 cases of kratom exposure in 2025, a staggering 1,200 percent increase since 2015. This upward trajectory in exposure reports has intensified scrutiny of the substance, particularly as investigators look into tragic incidents involving young people. For example, kratom products were identified during the investigation into the deaths of two students in Mississippi this past September, though officials have yet to definitively determine the role the substance played in those cases. In a separate development earlier this year, health authorities in Utah identified four fatalities linked to highly concentrated, mislabeled kratom-derived compounds.

The ambiguity surrounding the drug’s safety is complicated by its fragmented regulatory status. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and codirector of the Johns Hopkins Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness, notes that the lack of federal oversight creates a dangerous environment for consumers who may be unaware of what they are ingesting.

As state and federal agencies grapple with how to manage a product that sits in a legal gray area, experts continue to emphasize the urgent need for better data, clearer labeling, and a more robust understanding of the pharmacological risks associated with chronic kratom use.